Ino,Naruto, and fate
by AMkunoichi
Summary: well this is going to be one long, citrusy fic, so give it a chance please, basicallly its about how fate brings people together,even if they don'y realize it NaruIno InoNaru, slight gaasaku
1. Chapter 1

Woohoo my first fic!!I am so excited I hope it is good, I chose to do Ino and Naruto because I think the make a great couple and are my favorite crack pairing,, rated this story for M because there will be citrus!!XD I will try to make this story as in character and long as possible, and I will try to update at least once or twice weekly , please review, and point out anything you don't like about the story, I want to make this the best NaruIno story so I need you help!! Now onto the story!!

Disclaimer: I down't own Naruto , but I sure as hell would pwn then at sims XD

**Chapter one**

**Suffering**

"I'm sorry,"stated the Rokudaime hokage to the two shinobi gathered in her office. Two brave jounin of the rookie nine, and two close friends of a certain kunoichi, of whom this discussion was about. Tsunade continued, with tears forming in her eyes, "but it has been two months, and under the circumstances..."Here she faltered.

The two anbu were silent as well, they knew full well the circumstances . There best friend Haruno Sakura had been missing two months after an ambush of konoha by the Akatsuki

_-flashback-_

"_RASENGAN!!_"_, naruto shouted ans his attack shredded apart the body of an Akatsuki. He stepped back and surveyed the raging battle. To his right formation InoShikaCho was finishing off a group of young nins, and on his left his best friend and teammate Sakura was using her monstrous strength to tear through her own batch of shinobi._

"_Well that was easy." Ino stated simply._

"_Bah, how troublesome."_

"_Anybody got any potato chips?"_

"_Don't be so at ease you guys,"Sakura shouted."no way these were real Akatsuki members, no way would be able to finish them off so quickly , They're just a distraction for the real attack." Sakura comment was confirmed when Kakashi's voice came over the radio._

"_Sakura a team of anbu are trailing the real akatsuki, they made an assassination attempt on Tsunade-sama, they appear to have given up and are fleeing, the unit trailing them will need medical help rendevous with that about a 1 mile west of the Konoha gates, Naruto, Ino , Shikamaru and Chouji, report back to Tsunade immediately, over."_

"_Nande??? Why does Sakura-chan get to fight and I have to go report to that old hag!" said Naruto , earning him a bonk over the head from Sakura._

"_Because idiot, I'm a medic nin and isn't it obvious, the Akatsuki wouldn't give up so easily, Tsunade-sensei needs all the help she can get." sighed Sakura "besides , its just reconnaissance, what's the worst that could happen?" _

_-end flashback-_

Naruto snapped back to reality. Sakura had been not seen since, the entire unit had been killed and Sakura was no where to be found, after two months she had to be reported as killed in action. Naruto ,for once, was speechless, he couldn't bear to yell at Tsunade , she had thought of Sakura as a daughter , and had kept looking for her even though she was supposed to report her as legally dead after one month by shinobi law. But now...

Tsunade continued, "I have already finished the paperwork, retrieval missions will cease immediately , being as her parents died years ago, and she has no relatives, I'll leave it to you to clear out her apartment and ..."

"WILL YOU SHUT UP ALREADY!!"

Tsunade looked at the source of the outburst, but surprisingly, it was Ino, not naruto who had yelled."Ino..." she said silently.

Ino was shaking, her fist clenched in a very naruto like manner , she stared houting, more to herself than anybody, "don't you see daammint she has to be alive , she would never leave her freinds, after all that has happened she would never just let herself die so easily, she is out there somewhere and needs our help, and you are just going to let her suffer??"

Naruto walked over to her to try to calm her down.He had been thinking the same thing but he knew tht the only thing keeping her away would be death, ever since Sasuke had left , she had always made sure to be there for her freinds. She would never leave them like that, but death was something she couldn't control, it wasn't her fault...

"Ino...," he didn't have a chance to finish Ino collapsed , sobbing into his arms. Naruto stood there dumbfounded, he glanced at Tsunade, her face was buried in her hands and she simply dismissed them and pulled out a bottle of sake as he Naruto led Ino out of the room. He didn't know it but, she wasn't upset because of Sakura. It was seeing Naruto so cold and somber becuasse of her that nearly drove her to tears. To see him so broken hurt her more than and yelling and screaming he could have done.

_-'-'-'-_

_Omg yayz, I finished it ,not much to say, any question or comment put in the reviews people!!_

_And no I did not kill sakura, she will live, but that is a secret for the later chapters so worry not!! bye_


	2. Chapter 2

Woohoo my first fic!!I am so excited I hope it is good, I chose to do Ino and Naruto because I think the make a great couple and are my favorite crack pairing,, rated this story for M because there will be citrus!!XD I will try to make this story as in character and long as possible, and I will try to update at least once or twice weekly , please review, and point out anything you don't like about the story, I want to make this the best NaruIno story so I need you help!! Now onto the story!!

Special thanx to my reviewers

cardel88, Steel Timberwolf: thanks for clarifying, I was unsure when I wrote the story which hokage she was

blackshadow1006: the only reason I told everyone she was still alive was because I didn't want people to not continue reading or flame me if they thought she was dead, XD

and thanx to everyone else who reviewed

'_inner thoughts'_

nnnnnn-time break

Disclaimer: I do n't own Naruto , but I sure as hell would pwn then at Sims

**Chapter two**

**in each others company**

Previously...

"_Ino...," he didn't have a chance to finish. Ino collapsed , sobbing into his arms. Naruto stood there dumbfounded, he glanced at Tsunade, her face was buried in her hands and she simply dismissed them and pulled out a bottle of sake as he Naruto led Ino out of the room._

_XDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXD_

Naruto stood outside the hokage's office holding Ino as she cried her eyes out. Even though he was feeling the same pain as she after losing Sakura, he knew she was hurting moreLife had become unbearable for her recently, shortly after Asuma's death, her parents had also died, leaving her alone, but she had Sakura and her teammates. Then when Sakura went missing she was unable to do anything, as she was not of high enough clearance to deal with 5the Akatsuki, she had no one, Shikamaru had accepted a long term mission to Suna, and Chouji had left training. She seemed to be okay, letting her confidence that they would find Sakura fool everyone into thinking she was fine.

" _I should have known," thought Naruto, "she must have been hurting so bad, I thought she was okay, I had never even spoken to her during that time, _always _assumed she had someone, thinking I was the only one who was ever alone. If I had been there for her then would she have been able to handle this now? Sakura she was your best friend and I let her suffer, I'm so sorry_."

Naruto's train of thought was broken by a loud clap of thunder outside. He hadn't noticed but he had tears in his eyes. It started had started raining, as if the sky was crying with them at their loss, Naruto felt calmed by this show of sympathy , and tried to take his mind off Sakura.

"Its raining you know..."he said.

"Yeah..."she sobbed.

"Ino"

"hmm?"

"I'm so sorry for not being there for you before , but I'm here now."

Ino stopped crying"Naruto-kun...,"She pulled away from him slightly, and looked up to him, she face was only inches away from her, she smiled, "thank you." Naruto leaned into her, Ino did likewise ,there lips were merely inches away when...

"Naruto-kun you...oh I' m sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt ," Shizune looked at the 'couple' and smirked. "Nani??its not like that we..." Naruto then realized the awkward position he and Ino were in , he was still holding her. They quickly let go of each other and blushed a furious shade of red. Ino was the first to speak, "we should probably go before it really starts to downpour."

"Hai". Naruto walked down the halls of the hokage tower with Ino. _'Why, why did I almost kiss!!! I just lost Sakura , and besides its Ino, I mean, we barely know each other! I must have been just caught up in the moment , although it would have been nice to see how her lips felt' 'wait? Did I just think that , what the fuck am I doing!!_?'

Ino meanwhile was having the same the exact same problem, _'what am I doing, I almost kissed him, I wanted to kiss him, even now.' "Wait did I just say that?''well Its not that I don't like him, he's my friend, not to mention, he's so caring , and nice and hot''No! I can't think he's hot I mean..'_

SMACK

Ino, so lost in thought had run head-first into the exit door. She fell backward, dazed and expecting the hard crash of the floor, but it never came, instead she felt two strong arms catch her from behind , _very muscular arms_ she noted. "Are you okay Ino?"Naruto asked. "You were walking real fast and kept shaking your head, and ran into the wall."

"Yeah I'm okay, hehehe.", she nervously laughed. _Great going Ino! Even if you ever do admit you like him you'll never get the chance if he thinks you're nuts._ She tried to stand but immediately fell back into Naruto's arms as she blacked out

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Ino woke up I an unfamiliar bedroom on a soft blue twin bed. She stood up but quickly had to sit back down as she suddenly felt dizzy and her head gave a particularly painful throb. She sat on the bed and surveyed the room, quickly, as it was small and not very full, the one thing she did notice was a pile of bright orange and black jumpsuit on the floor. She suddenly remembered how she had fainted after walking Ino the door. _'This must be Naruto-kun's house'_

She also noticed she was wearing his jacket and her clothes and it were slightly wet. 'That right it was raining and he must have given me his jacket , how sweet, I better thank him later' 'Yeah and you know how''shut up I can't think that!' She got up to go find him and was about to walk into the living room when what she saw stopped her.

Naruto was in the living, naked except for a very wet, very clinging , pair of boxers .Ino nearly fainted again. She was able to tell he was quite well endowed and was able to see all of his very well toned muscles as he got dressed. She began thinking of all the things she wanted to do to him, and what she wanted him to do to her, how she wanted to be right there with him as she ran her hands across his muscular chest, kissing him as he pulled her naked body close to his , tracing her every curve with his hands as she stared into his deep blue eyes.her train of thought was cut short as he glanced up, and noticed she was staring at him from across the room.

"INO!"

She stood there horrified and flipped around as he quickly threw on a pair of pants. " I'm so sorry Naruto-kun, I didn't mean to I woke up and I was sure where I was so I went to have a look around and ..."" Its okay , I was just surprised is all, you're kind of wet too, if you want you can borrow some of my clothes, there are some in the bedroom, go ahead ,I need to finish getting dressed?"Naruto said. _'can I watch?'_ "Sure"replied Ino, blushing and walking back to the bedroom.

XDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXD

another short one, sorry, this wont last long, once I get the story to a certain point I know where to go from there, its the start thats hard, any suggestions are welcome


	3. Chapter 3

Woohoo my first fic!!I am so excited I hope it is good, I chose to do Ino and Naruto because I think the make a great couple and are my favorite crack pairing,, rated this story for M because there will be citrus!!XD I will try to make this story as in character and long as possible, and I will try to update at least once or twice weekly , please review, and point out anything you don't like about the story, I want to make this the best NaruIno story so I need you help!! Now onto the story!!

Special thanx to my reviewers!!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto , but I sure as hell would pwn then at Sims

**Chapter three**

**fate**

_previously_

She stood there horrified and flipped around as he quickly threw on a pair of pants. " I'm so sorry Naruto-kun, I didn't mean to I woke up and I was sure where I was so I went to have a look around and ..."" Its okay , I was just surprised is all, you're kind of wet too, if you want you can borrow some of my clothes, there are some in the bedroom, go ahead ,I need to finish getting dressed?"Naruto said. _'can I watch?'_ "Sure"replied Ino, blushing and heading back to the bedroom.

XDXDXDXDXDXDXD

Naruto laughed as ino practically ran out of the room, 'heh, wonder if she saw anything she liked'

,thought Naruto. After Ino had passed out , He had done some thinking of his own about the infatuation that seemed to be developing between them.It had been hard for him to decide wether his feelings for her were genuine or they were just there because he needed someone to help him cope with all that happened, since she was probably feeling the same aloneness and guilt over Sakura's disappearance, no , death, he had to start accepting that she was not coming back, he had to get over it and learn to move on, and Ino was the only one who could help. They needed each other, he was almost sure of it, but he still could not sort out how to tell her his feelings. He even doubted wether she saw him, or could ever see him as more than just a friend, if that even, they barely knew each other, but maybe that was why he was falling for her know, maybe if he had gotten closer to her sooner , he would had felt the same way he does now. Or maybe it was all to confusing to think about.

Naruto walked over to his small cupboard and dug through countless packages of ramen to find some tea. Having unearthed some in the very back, he pulled out the dust box and started to make tea. He let his thoughts wander back to Ino when she came back into the room, wearing an old pair of his blue boxers and a black t shirt. Ino had done much digging to find a pair of boxers that she was sure was clean. No matter how much she liked him having to wear a pair of dirty underwear was something she'd never do.

Ino sat down next to Naruto and began to stir her tea restlessly. She didn't know what the problem was, she had always been able to talk to naruto before, in a group of people, that is, . Him being notoriously loud and unable to keep a secret of any kind, not counting the kyuubi,and Ino being a loudmouth also and Konoha's biggest gossip, naturally they had always found a multitude of things to talk about, but now, she was unsure of her ability to even string two sentences together in front of him.

Naruto was the one to break the silence, as he began chattering off to her the details of every dangerous and amazing mission he had ever been on in his life. Unbeknownst to Ino chattering about missions was his only way to over come extreme nervousness on his part. Ino began to listen with new attentiveness as he described some of the more heroic ones, taking even more attraction to him as she began to notice the more about him that she ever did before.To her he was never anything more than that hyperactive annoying genin who happened to be on Sasuke's team, she could have never known what he would come to mean to her. 'Who would have thought it huh? Me falling for that idiot' she thought. She jumped into the conversation and her and Naruto hit it off well, the talked like old friends for hours about seeming everything they possibly could until nightfall.. There conversation was interrupted by both of their continuous yawns.

"Wow its late", Naruto said walking to the window."I should probably get going ,"Ino said, rather disappointed that their time together was coming to and end." you can't leave," replied Naruto ," Its sleeting outside and everything is covered in a layer of ice, its to dangerous to go out, especially since you live all the way on the other side of town, you can stay the night here!" Ino smirked at his rather obvious enthusiasm."okay then," but I get the bed 'kay?", she said sticking her tongue out at him. "Whatever",Naruto replied teasingly," the couch is probably warmer with the fireplace and all anyways""hey! that's not nice, sticking me in the cold bedroom!"yelled Ino."you're the one who called the bedroom, baka!"Naruto replied earning a smack from Ino," Geez, Ino you're worse than Sakura-chan." Both of them fell silent at this, they had been enjoying there time with each other and had almost completely forgot about why they were there together. "Well, I'm going to bed,"Ino said solemnly, going into the bed room. Naruto couldn't even speak, he just grabbed a blanket, hopped onto the couch, and fell into a fitful slumber.

Xdxdxdxdxdxdxdxdxddxdxdxdxd

_Ino was running through the forest after Sakura. It was after the battle with the akatsuki. " Sakura stop!!don't go !please stop, wait Sakura!!", Ino screamed. She started running faster, pumping chakra into her legs, sakura couldn't hear her or wasn't listening. No matter how fast she went , Sakura was always just ahead of her, out of reach.She remembered this dream, and how it always ended, she had to stop sakura now._"Sa_kura!"she shouted again. Sakura had reached a clearing where several ANBU had fallen, it was where Ino and the others had discovered the bodies of everybody, minus Sakura's._ _Sakura bent down and began healing the ANBU, and they were suddenly ambushed by Akatsuki. Ino had reached the clearing but and Invisible barrier seemed to be stopping her from reaching the others. She stood there horrified as they were slaughtered one by one , while sakura continued healing, not even noticing them. One of them came right behind her and stabbed her. Ino began screaming, when Naruto suddenly appeared, she was stunned, he had never came before and she didn't know what would happen . He ran into the clearing and fought them , then one by one, they stabbed him with kunai and shurikens, and she watched as the blood pooled at her feet. The akatsuki left and Sakura ran after them. Ino stood there helpless as Naruto laid there bleeding to death and Sakura ran and disappeared into mist. "NO!!this isn't real! no no!" she was screaming and crying . She heard Naruto voiced and rushed over to him, "Ino, ...please wake up, Ino"_

"INO!!" Naruto had shook Ino awake. He had heard her screams and rushed to the bedroom to find her screaming and crying and thrashing about wildly. He thought she was having a fit or something. "Ino, are you okay? Ino!"she didn't say anything, just threw herself on Naruto's chest and began crying and mumbling something incoherent. He stroked her back and her sobs became shorter and softer, until he was sure she was asleep. He slid out of bed, tucked her back in, and was surprised when he felt a hand on his arm. "Please stay, I had a nightmare about...about Sakura. Please stay, I don't want to be alone", Ino sobbed. "Okay" Naruto replied gently , crawling into bed next to her and pulling her close. She laid her head on his chest and wrapped her arms around him. Naruto pulled her closer and they quickly fell asleep in each other's embrace.

XDXDDXDXDXDXDXDXD

well, this took awhile, sorry I was busy and had writers block, also I am looking for an editor to look this over since I have noticed mistakes in my story and other such stuff. So bye, until next time!!


	4. Chapter 4

Woohoo my first fic!!I am so excited I hope it is good, I chose to do Ino and Naruto because I think the make a great couple and are my favorite crack pairing,, rated this story for M because there will be citrus!!XD I will try to make this story as in character and long as possible, and I will try to update at least once or twice weekly , please review, and point out anything you don't like about the story, I want to make this the best NaruIno story so I need you help!! Now onto the story!!

Special thanx to my reviewers!!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto , but I sure as hell would pwn then at Sims

**Chapter three**

**Advances**

_previosly_

"INO!!" Naruto had shook Ino awake. He had heard her screams and rushed to the bedroom to find her screaming and crying and thrashing about wildly. He thought she was having a fit or something. "Ino, are you okay? Ino!"she didn't say anything, just threw herself on Naruto's chest and began crying and mumbling something incoherent. He stroked her back and her sobs became shorter and softer, until he was sure she was asleep. He slid out of bed, tucked her back in, and was surprised when he felt a hand on his arm. "Please stay, I had a nightmare about...about Sakura. Please stay, I don't want to be alone", Ino sobbed. "Okay" Naruto replied gently , crawling into bed next to her and pulling her close. She laid her head on his chest and wrapped her arms around him. Naruto pulled her closer and they quickly fell asleep in each other's embrace.

XDXDDXDXD

Ino awoke the next morning cuddling up to the warm body next to her. 'Naruto-kun? what is he...oh, yeah' she suddenly remebered the happenings of last night , including her horrible dream, and began to sob silently. 'heh. Both times I end up in his arms sobbing like a baby, he must think I'm so pathetic' she snuggled closer to him , praying that they could stay like this forever , she felt so safe and comfortable in his arms. 'I could get used to this', Ino giggled 'why is it whenever I'm with him I feel so giddy, could this be more than a crush' her thoughts were interrupted as Naruto moved under her. 'Oh no, he's waking up. She quickly prentended to be asleep, wanting to see what he would do. She was ecstacic when she felt his arms wrap tightly around her again.She shyly reciprocated his actions. She felt him tense, then relax against her touch. She stared up to see if he was really awake or still sleeping, hoping his movements weren't just involuntary reactions to having someone next to him.Surprisngly, she saw his blue eyes staring right back at her.

"Mornin' sleepy head" he said to her. "good morning", she replied, smiling at him.. "are you okay Ino-chan? Do you want to talk about it?", he said. She was touched that he would care about her so much, maybe he could learn to think of her as more than just a freind. "Yeah" was alll she said, she was lost in his deep blue eyes,his eyes that made her just want to stare into them all day. 'Wow , she's so beatiful'Naruto thought, his gaze drifted into her eyes and was surprised to find she was staring intently at him as well, after staring into her loving eyes he glanced down at her lips, they were so perfect like the rest of her he couldn't help himself. Ino was so mezmerized by him she didn't notice him lean into her and kiss her until his lips were on hers.

She was amazed at the fire his touch created. She began to kiss him back deeply and felt him pull her as close as humanly possible, deeping the kiss. After what seemed like an eternity, they hesitantly broke away gasping for air. 'wow', they both thought.This time she was the one to begin the kiss again, deeply and sensually. She titled her head to allow him better acess and put her arm aruond his neck, grabbing a handfull of his golden hair and pulling him into her. He licked her bottom lip pleading for entrance , which she readily granted, and soon started to feel him caress her tongue with his and start to explore her mouth.Naruto pulled away for an instant and quickly retuned to her mouth giving her a chaste kiss and moved down her neck, kissing and licking every bare inch of it.Ino let out a low moan and ran her fingers through his now tangled hair. Naruto moved his hand up her shirt and moved aside her bra and began masssaging her breast. Her breaths were becoming ragged as ecstasy overwhelmed her . She could feel every individual kiss on her neck as her kissed her so slowly it was driving her crazy.She nearly screamed when his thumb began to move circles around her nipple. She quickly arched into his touch. Naruto continued, loving every mew and moan she was making. He began to get goosebumps as she removed his shirt and began tarcing heis every muscle with her delkicate hands. Somehow in all the kissing Naruto had managed to flip Ino under him, he stopped kissing her for a moment to remove her shirt also to better explore her body with his mouth. She let out adeep moan when he began to nuzzle her breast, having removed the cursed bra that was keeping him from them. "Naruto-kun..."Ino moaned. He went up to her mouth to kiss her. "Yes Ino-chan?"he said sweetly. "The doorbell...is ringing..." "Damnmit!!'he thiought as he got up and threw on a shirt and ran to the door.

Surprisingly it was their fellow ANBU Kiba, who just happened to be as big of a gossip as nearlty Naruto and Ino. "Kami please let Ino have enouigh sense to stay in the bedroom.Kiba spoke, "Hey Naruto where's Ino?" 'Crap, he knows!'"you two are wanted at the hokage tower for a special assignment" 'thank kami, he doesn't'thought Naruto. "Ok thanks, I'll tell her when I see her"said Naruto,shutting the door in Kiba's Face. "Thanks, bye".'Now how am I going to face Ino. He was completly dumbfounded by what came over, he had never been so attracted to anyone in his life, there was just something about her that made him lose control. The thing thsat bothered him the most was hoew responsive she was to him, he was almost sure she felty the same way,so why should he worry.He stopped in front of the bed room door for a feww minutes, thinking everything over when it burst open and Ino ran right into him , knocking him over, with her falling on top of him.'what is with these weird positions we end up in?'he thought to himself, and tried not to think about her breasts pressed up against him'at least she';s dressed again. "I'm so sorry Naruto-kun, are you okay she said, still on top of him. "Yeah" he replied short of breath. "Could you get off me?" he said reluctantly , not wanting to let go of the feel of her body. "Sure, sorry agian", she laughed nervously . She helped him up, avoiding eye contact as she thought of what to say next.She had let things get to far, what if it ruined there freindship. 'But he kissed me, he must like me, right?'she thought to herself. Luckily for her Naruto broke the silence. "It was kiba at the door, he said we have a mission and we should report to the Hokage tower asap,""okay", she replied , trying to straighten her top, causing Naruto to surpress a smirk.Then they both headed to the Hokage tower, blissfully unaware of what wpould befall them.

XDXDXDXDXDXDDXDXD

well that is it for now, Review please!!


	5. Chapter 5

Yo, I'm back XD

and clarifying time

first of all , about all the hits and reviews on and I gotta say, HOLY $HIT!!! I totally thinks I sux, and its nice to have a reason to continue writing , so thanks, and I am currently editing also so I will deal with the tons of errors I made

Also, lot of you guys mentioned it was weird that Sakura would just leave like that by herself, which is probably my fault cuz I tend to be vague, but the reason why is there was already a ANBU team there and they needed medical help(they were finished fighting), so only she went to join the team, and the others went to protect Tsunade while they tried to figure out a course of action. In simple terms, anbu needed medic, they got medic, Tsunade needed backup , she got backup. Okey dokey?

also, (yeah another note XD) I am changing my writing style to more omniscient, I personally like that better for when I read , and will try it out for myself, be sure to tell me wether it is better or it sucks

disclaimer: I don't own Naruto ,cuz Kishimito-sensei is being evil and ignoring all my emails...

**chapter five**

Naruto and Ino made there way to the Hokage tower in a dead silence, keeping far away from each other, despite the fact they were walking there together. Ino walked a short distance in front of Naruto, so she wouldn't have to face him. She was ashamed of herself for losing control so easily. She had made jounin because of her espionage skills and had also been trained to be able to use body as a weapon. In all of her missions, no matter how far things got she had always remained calm and completely in control of what was happening, and also in all her relationships, but Naruto had removed all of her self control with a single kiss. No, not even with a kiss, all it had taken was a simple stare and she was his. She had wanted him and would have let him have anything he wanted had he just asked. 'Damn him' she thought, That was not the way things went for her .So maybe she was attracted to him, training with Sakura and him a lot, she had tended to stare quite shamelessly when his shirt was off, and she always thought he was kinda cute when he acted stupid, even though she knew he was very smart when he wanted to be. Nothing more really than any other guy, so why now? She was lonely, she knew that, she hadn't gotten laid in a long time, and hadn't really had the pleasure of a real relationship in well, never, at least not a normal one, such was the life of a shinobi. So she was desperate to be with somebody, nothing more, nothing to do with him. Then why does she wish it were more.

Naruto walked behind and was just as confused as her about what happened, and why the hell did she keep shaking her head when ever she would steal a glance back at him. This was no time to be lusting after her. He may be a pervert, but he valued his friendships more than anything, Ino was one of the first friends he ever had, she was Sakura's best friend, and practically took full advantage of her. And what the hell was this strange feeling he had when he was around her, had he just not noticed it before? Although it was strange, he was starting to miss it as she kept getting further and further away.

'At least I am getting a nice view of her lovely ass'

They entered the tower and were immediately sent into Tsunade's office. She eyed the pair suspiciously , trying to disconcern why the strange mood between the two. Luckily for them she attributed it to Ino being embarrassed for her previous behavior, and Naruto for it being another part of his new behavior she couldn't quite figure out, she missed the old him. This mission was just what they needed. She dismissed Shizune from the room and turned to face the two. Her stern face disappeared at once and was replaced with a saddened expression. Naruto, recognized it at once and felt a surge of guilt knowing that it was most likely their fault, and averted his eyes to the floor. Ino had never seen the hokage act like this before and was quite shocked.

"Naruto, Ino...gomenasai, I shouldn't have acted like that, this past year has been hard for all of us, especially recently, Ino, you have lost so many close to you, Naruto I know how you feel about what happened, the reason why the Akatsuki were here..."

Ino looked questioningly at Tsunade, she was under the impression it was unknown why they were attacked, Tsunade didn't elaborate, and Naruto seemed to be thankful for it.

"You both need to get away from all this, it isn't in anybody's best interest to have you so distracted, Therefore I am sending you on a very important mission, a sort of vacation to Suna"

Ino tensed at this, she really didn't think she could handle seeing Shikamaru again, she didn't want to...

"There has been much trouble there with the villagers and council, and various plots for reform against the government which has led to a very angry Kazekage"she stopped to laugh " and Kankuro-san has kindly reminded me that we are in an alliance and if I don't hurry up and send Naruto over to help him keep Gaara from murdering the entire council, we will be in serious trouble"Naruto and Ino also laughed, no matter how long it has been, Naruto was the only person outside of his family that Gaara trusted and would tolerate. " Nara-san and Temari-san have been sent on a mission to form a treaty with the hidden Mist village, and without his sister, Kankuro told me he won't be able to do much about Gaara. I thin k it would be good for you Naruto to see you old friend again, and Ino, you would also do well to take a vacation. Your mission is simply to stay in Suna as a symbol of Konoha's alliance, but really you won't have to do anything, just take it easy, leave within the hour, you won't need to take anything with you, Gaara-sama will take care of everything, dismissed"

"Arigatou, baa-chan'" Naruto yelled out, forgetting to act mature, and bringing a smile to her face, replace a second later with anger as she punched hi into the hall, "Ototo, call me that again and your dead"

"Yes, thank you Hokage-sama, ano, how long is the mission?"Ino asked.

"I can't say what I don't know myself, but I know it will take awhile"Tsunade answered. 'Naruto is not safe here, until the Akatsuki are destroyed, he can never return...

"What will take awhile?"Ino questioned.

"Nothing"she answered, and watched Ino walk out to help Naruto up. 'Take care of him, Ino he needs someone like you to save him'

Whew, yeah this is not much, but I am trying, I will squeeze every little drop of plot from my brain in the next few weeks to give you a finished story, expect the next update soon

Ja ne

Sakura(AM)


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